Holiday Birthday Parties for 2 Kids

Updated on
September 16, 2009

J.C.
asks from
Phoenix, MD
on September 15, 2009

12
answers

Hello All, my husband and I have a 2 year old that will be 3 on JANUARY 1st, New Years Day and then we have a 9 month old who will be 1 on DECEMBER 24th, Christmas Eve! We did not plan them this way so jokes aside -LOL! We don't want to have the huge parties where you rent space and bands, etc... So, any ideas of how we could celebrate their birthdays for them, today and in the years to come?? I would love to hear your feedback and ideas!! Thank you.

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M.G.

answers from
Washington DC
on
September 16, 2009

My family had an 'unbirthday party' at family reunions, but 2 of my 3 have b-days on holidays and I'm thinking of throwing them an un-birthday party on their half birthday or some other significant date. Just so they have their own day. It would also make it so their parties were in the summer with the possibility of having an outside birthday parties - which I'm a huge fan of.

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J.D.

answers from
Washington DC
on
September 16, 2009

A couple suggestions:

My little brother's bday is right near Thanksgiving. My moms is middle of August. A few years when we were kids, she swapped birthdays with him so he could have not only a party not near a holiday, but one in the summer as well. For his proper birthday, we'd then have a cake and candles but no real party.

My cousin was born on Christmas Eve as well and my Aunt and Uncle used to let him have his birthday party at his 1/2 year. This allowed the party with friends away from the holiday. On Christmas Eve, she does still have a small family dinner with just a few presents (NEVER wrapped in Christmas wrap-always with birthday paper so he doesn't feel like it was really a christmas present being 'regifted').

My twins were born on Halloween!! We lucked out as far as holiday birthdays go, since we get to use it as a theme if we want or just have the party on the weekend. The cool thing is that they love that people give them candy on their birthday!!
Good luck
J.

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M.G.

answers from
Washington DC
on
September 16, 2009

My family had an 'unbirthday party' at family reunions, but 2 of my 3 have b-days on holidays and I'm thinking of throwing them an un-birthday party on their half birthday or some other significant date. Just so they have their own day. It would also make it so their parties were in the summer with the possibility of having an outside birthday parties - which I'm a huge fan of.

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A.C.

answers from
Washington DC
on
September 16, 2009

I think it's always nice to do something for the child on the actual birthday that is birthday only related. (I have a daughter who was born right around Thanksgiving and every few years or so it falls on the holiday.) I never recall having a birthday party on my actual birthday growing up. My parents would choose a weekend that fit with the family schedule and then that's when my party would be. Perhaps you can do the same. Good luck!

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J.G.

answers from
Washington DC
on
September 16, 2009

Growing up my cousin (born Christmas Eve) would always celebrate her half-birthday with the big party and presents and all. Her actual day was always so overshadowed by all the holiday stuff, she'd get a birthday cake and candles but not presents.

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M.S.

answers from
Washington DC
on
September 15, 2009

You could just have their birthday parties (separate or together) early in december so that they feel its their special party and its not getting overlooked because of holiday festivities. Or have the younger one's early in December and the older ones later in January after the New year's and family and friends are back in town...

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J.W.

answers from
Washington DC
on
September 16, 2009

I see this issue looming for me as well. My oldest son was born on New Year's Eve and my youngest was born right around Thanksgiving. For my oldest, we have just held parties at our home near his birthday. We always have someting for him on his actual birth date, but we can't always plan a party for that day. It's not just that it's NYE, it's sometimes that it's the middle of the week and nobody could come anyway.

If you enjoy crafty things, pick a theme (maybe ask your son) and make him a party at home. My son wanted a Batmam party for his birthday so I made "capes" for all of his friends and then made bat shaped cookies to munch with the cake. The kids just had a great time running around the yard with the capes on pretending to be saving the world. :) I also had coloring pages for the kids to color when they first arrived while waiting for late comers.

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E.K.

answers from
Washington DC
on
September 16, 2009

Growing up, I had a friend who's b-day was Dec 25th. Her parents decided that every other year they would celebrate her bday on the 25th, and so that her brothers did not get shortchanged, they moved christmas to earlier or later, depending on the family/school calendar.
I don't actually celebrate birthday's, but we have a pool party in December, that may be something to think about when they are older.

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S.M.

answers from
Washington DC
on
September 15, 2009

I don't know if I totally like this idea. But my friend has a child with a December 26th birthday. They have a cake on her birthday - no presents because they celebrate Christmas. They have a friends party in June on her half birthday. They felt like planning a party with vacations, houseguests, etc would be almost impossible. And they felt she would always be shortchanged on presents and simply feeling special.

For a first birthday?? That should be celebrated on tha tday no matter what, but maybe a future switch is in order.

Now a simpler way to do this might just be to hold two parties at the end of January. Because of some personal issues, we coldn't hold my daughter's fourth birthday until one month after. It was no big deal. So you could hold the parties January 24th and February 1st.

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K.M.

answers from
Washington DC
on
September 16, 2009

Hi J.! My little boy's birthday is 12/30, so I can relate! For his 3rd birthday party this past year, we moved the party to the first week in January (I think we did it on 1/3) so that most people we wanted to invite were back in town and some of the Christmas hub-bub had died down. He had been attending a little kids' music class, and the teacher was willing to teach a class for the birthday party, so that's what we did! We followed a 1/2 hour music time with cake and presents, and the whole thing had a train theme--didn't feel like Christmas at all, and it was a lot of fun. I don't know that we'll throw a party every year--probably every other year--but it was a success this time around. Good luck!

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K.S.

answers from
Washington DC
on
September 16, 2009

I knew a mom whose son had a birthday during the holidays also. She gave him her birthdate. So every year he had a birthday party (where he invited friends) on her birthdate and on his birthdate, he had a family celebration. Just mom, dad and little sister.
Good luck.
K.

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S.C.

answers from
Norfolk
on
September 16, 2009

Just make sure you make the celebration about their birthday and not a combined thing. My son's bday is January 2nd (he is now 8) we usually celebrate at home with family on the actual day and now that he is older we have parties on the weekend after when school is back in session.

My younger son's bday is Feb 12th (he is now 5) So we try to avoid anything valentine themed. He likes at home parties. He usually picks a theme, we pick crafts and games based on the theme and invite a few friends from school and his playgroup friends he has had since birth.

Do what you know your kids will enjoy and make sure it's their day. Good luck.

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S.M.

answers from
Washington DC
on
September 16, 2009

Hi J.,

I don't know what to say abt them being so close to Christmas except that half birthdays seem to be a good idea. Regarding the birthdays being so close together, though...my mom had the same problem. My brother and I are 363 days apart, and we had (at least early on) the same pool of friends. So we shared parties and alternated picking themes (I endured cowboys, and he endured barbie...well you get the picture). One problem you are going to run into unless you have the perfect party house, is actually having room for a kids birthday party in the winter once you start inviting their friends and not just family. We struggle with this for my 3 y/o (soon to be 4) who has a Feb birthday and her 1st birthday party was literally snowed out. To avoid a few mistakes I have made - set times, have an agenda and activities (Oriental Trading Co has some cheap cool crafts for almost any theme), and hustle the kids out after "their time is up," and feed the parents adult food <g>. This year we had a Tinkerbell Fairy Party and strung white lights around the living and dining room, made fairy wands, and had the kids play in the Tumblebus for an hour. My other daughter (4) had a Royal Tea and made sand art crowns, played toss the poison apple, and dress-up (boys too), and had tea with royal wands (pretzel sticks in white chocolate and sprinkles), tea sandwiches that the girls made themselves, strawberry lemonade, and fruit salad in plastic wine glasses. Have fun with whatever you plan.